


if i had wings

by tenderdyke



Category: The Wilds (TV 2020)
Genre: Alternate Universe - High School, Angst, Eventual Smut, F/F, Fluff, Fluff and Angst, High School, Homophobia, Homophobic Language, Internalized Homophobia, no beta we die like fatin's toothbrush, shelby's dad is an asshole but we all know that
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-01-08
Updated: 2021-01-08
Packaged: 2021-03-12 06:00:14
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,005
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28630659
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/tenderdyke/pseuds/tenderdyke
Summary: Shelby's family moves to a small town in Minnesota, and the last thing Shelby is expecting is to be paired up with one of the honest-to-god most attractive girls she's ever seen in her life in bio class. When the new girl steps through the door of Toni's bio class, looking ridiculously pretty for 10 AM on a Monday, the last thing Toni is expecting is for Martha to make up an excuse so Toni's left without a lab partner.But hey, sometimes we have to deal with the unexpected, no matter what it may bring.
Relationships: Shelby Goodkind/Toni Shalifoe
Comments: 4
Kudos: 117





	if i had wings

**Author's Note:**

> hi! i hope you enjoy this shoni high school au! there will be more chapters - I don't know when, as I'm posting them as I go, but the next one will probably be up in a couple days. also, there's no smut at the moment, but I'm planning on there being some later on in the story. any chapters with smut will have it in the notes and I'll probably change the rating at that point. okay onto the story

Shelby Goodkind stood in front of the closed classroom door, holding her breath. Her fingers tugged on the edge of her skirt, then moved up to grab onto her bag straps, clutching to them like a lifeline. Sucking in a deep breath, she knocked on the door, twice, in quick succession, and opened it.

Thirty high school students stared at her, murmurs falling silent, and her eyes raked over them with mild panic before turning to the teacher, who was looking at her expectantly.

“Hi, I’m Shelby Goodkind? I just transferred here,” Shelby announced, her voice full of confidence that only she knew was totally faked. “Sorry I’m late, I couldn’t find the room.”

“Ah, Miss Goodkind, yes. The secretary mentioned we were getting a new student. Well, we were just about to begin,” the teacher said, looking around the room as students began to chat quietly amongst themselves. “We’re working in pairs, though I suppose you’ll have to join to make a group of three-”

The teacher – Shelby couldn’t remember his name for the life of her – was interrupted by a girl sat near the back of the class with her hand raised.

“Uh, Mr Martin? I don’t feel so good. Can I go to the nurse’s office?” she called out, already standing up.

“I suppose so, Martha,” the teacher said, sighing, and the girl – Martha – grabbed her bag and walked out, smiling at Shelby as she walked past. “Well then, Shelby, you can take Martha’s place. Okay, class, quiet down, now.”

Toni Shalifoe stared at Martha’s retreating back in shock as she left the class, door swinging shut behind her. _Have fun,_ Marty had said as she grabbed her bag, shooting Toni a grin and a wink before she turned to leave. Toni was broken out of her stupor when the new girl, Shelby, slid into Marty’s abandoned chair.

“Hi,” she said, nervously tucking her shiny blonde hair behind her ear and smiling shyly at Toni. “I’m Shelby.”

“Toni.”

Shelby smiled again, a little brighter this time. “Well, it’s nice to meet you, Toni!” she said, her Texan accent strong and almost lilting. She glanced down at the biology textbook on the table, which was open to a page about dissecting frogs. “Y’know, in history class this mornin’, they made us read about old torture devices. In music, I had to sit through half an hour of the worst violin-playing I have ever heard. And now this?” she gestured to the picture on the page, a photo of a dissected frog. “I’m beginning to think this school is just a modern torture device.”

Toni grinned, ducking her head. She was quiet for a minute, before looking up with a mischievous glint in her eyes. “Should we fight the power?” she asked and nodded over to the cabinet at the side of the classroom with a sly grin on her face. “We have knives.”

“So, how was it?” Martha asked, sitting down on the bench.

Toni rolled her eyes and tried to glare at her best friend, but couldn’t stop a small smile from making its way onto her face. “I can’t believe you skipped class just for that.”

“To help you get a girl?” Martha said, waving away Toni’s protests. “Please, I saw the way you looked at her when she came in. Didn’t think you’d go for the southern belle type, but she _is_ pretty.”

Groaning, Toni put her head in her hands. “Shut up, Marty.”

“Fine, but we’re talking about this later,” Martha conceded, standing up. “You have practice, right? Do you want me to come pick you up after?”

“Nah, it’s fine. I’ll take the bus,” Toni said, standing as well. “Thanks, though. Say hi to your mom from me, okay?”

Martha nodded and left. Making her way to the school’s locker rooms, Toni vaguely wondered what Shelby was up to, before shaking her head. “Get a grip,” she muttered to herself, and pushed open the locker room door.

Practice was gruelling but fun. Toni loved the way basketball made her feel, powerful and strong, and like she was actually good at something for once - hell, she wasn’t just good at basketball, she was amazing at it. Being amazing at something, being one of the best? It wasn’t something Toni was used to.

But playing basketball made her feel that way. It was a lifeline, a crutch, something to hold on to and rely on when everything else was an uncertainty. She could get pushed around from one foster family to the next, but basketball - and being good at it - was always there to catch her if she fell. 

When practice was over and Toni had gotten changed and said bye to her teammates, she made her way to the bus stop in front of the school. “Fuck,” she muttered as she realised she had just missed the bus, and the next one wasn’t coming for another hour. Pulling out her beaten-up phone, a hand-me-down from three foster families ago, she cursed again. It was dead. Smacking it against her palm a couple times to no avail, she groaned and stuck it back into her pocket. 

Guess she was going to have to walk.

She tugged her jacket closer around her and inhaled deeply before starting to walk. The jacket had been her mom’s, and the faint scent of her mom’s shampoo still clung to the worn fabric. Toni allowed herself exactly one minute of thinking about her absent parents and feeling bitterly sorry for herself as she walked, and when the minute was up she glared at the ground. She didn’t like feeling sorry for herself. It made her feel weak and vulnerable.

The wind whipped her hair into her face and she kept walking, trying to pull her jacket even closer around her torso. Her scuffed sneakers stood out against the dirt path on the side of the road, and she frowned at them as she walked, her mind occupied until the sound of a nearing car distracted her from her thoughts. 

Toni looked up to see a tan pickup truck drive past and pull onto the path ahead of her. Nearing it cautiously, she looked up at the rolled down window to see Shelby leaning out and smiling tentatively at her.

“Nice wheels,” Toni said, glancing at the vehicle and back to Shelby.

“Thanks!” Shelby smiled brightly, and Toni was struck by just how beautiful the new girl was. “I was, um, driving home and saw you, and I guess I was wondering if you wanted a ride? Seems like we’re headed in the same direction,” she said, gesturing at the road. 

“Oh, uh,” Toni hesitated for a second, glancing between the pickup and the road. “Are you sure? I live kinda out of the way,” she trailed off.

“Of course! Don’t even worry about it,” Shelby told her, genuine kindness and warmth in her voice. 

Toni thought about this pretty, preppy blonde seeing the trailer park her foster family lived in, and bit her lip. “Thanks, but I think I’ll just-,” she was interrupted by a fat drop of rain splashing onto the car loudly, followed by dozens more, as if the sky had just opened up above them. “Shit, yeah, okay, I’ll take that ride!” Toni yelled over the deafening onslaught of rain.

Shelby watched the smaller girl run around to the passenger side and get in, slamming the door behind her. Biting her lip, she looked at the quickly darkening sky. “Gosh. It was clear five minutes ago. Good thing I was here, huh?”

“Yeah,” Toni agreed, voice quiet. “Thanks, again.”

“No problem,” Shelby said, starting to drive. “So, um, how come you were still at school so late?”

Toni raised an eyebrow, looking at Shelby questioningly. “Oh! I saw you in the parking lot. I had to stay later to get some things sorted with the secretary. I wasn’t, like, stalking you or anything!” the Texan explained, laughing nervously. 

“Sure, you weren’t,” Toni grinned, and Shelby inwardly breathed a sigh of relief. “Nah, I’m just messing with you. I had basketball practice.”

“Oh, are you on the team?” 

“Yep. I’m the captain, actually,” she said, and Shelby could hear the pride in her voice. “I have practice most days after school.”

“Wow, that must be a lot of work!” Shelby whistled. “I don’t do any team sports or anything like that.”

Toni glanced over at Shelby, who was looking at the road with a wistful look on her face as she drove. “What kind of stuff do you do?”

“It’s a little embarrassing,” Shelby laughed. She didn’t usually care about people knowing about her pageants but for some reason, she was worried about what Toni might think. Telling herself it didn’t matter what other people thought about it because she enjoyed doing pageants ( _didn’t she?_ ), she kept talking. “I do beauty pageants. Did them all the time back in Texas.”

“What, like, beauty pageants?” Toni asked, a hint of amusement in her voice.

“Yep. I was real good, too. Won the last six I’ve been in,” Shelby told her, not looking at Toni. 

“Wow,” Toni said, genuinely impressed. “You need to turn left here, by the way,” she pointed. The pickup drove along an empty road for a little while before coming to the entrance of a trailer park. Toni shifted uncomfortably. “Uh, here’s good.”

The rain had subsided, leaving grey clouds in its wake. Shelby noticed Toni grimace as she looked out at the muddy grass of the park and quickly put a neutral expression on her face when she looked back at Shelby. Grabbing her bag from where she’d put it by her feet, she smiled almost shyly. “Thanks for the ride.”

“Anytime,” Shelby said warmly.

“I’ll see you around, I guess,” Opening the door and getting out of the pickup, Toni looked back at Shelby. “Bye, Shelby.”

Shelby watched her as she closed the door and walked away. Ignoring the fluttering feeling in her stomach, she backed out of the trailer park and started the drive home. So maybe it had been a little - okay, a lot - out of her way, but she didn’t mind. And there was nothing weird about giving a potential new friend a ride, right? Especially in the pouring rain. _I mean, really, it’s just southern hospitality, if anything_ , she told herself, before rolling her eyes and wondering why she was even trying to justify simply giving someone a ride home.

There was nothing to justify, because it didn’t mean anything, she decided firmly, and switched on the radio before her thoughts could incriminate her any further. 

When Shelby got home she opened the front door quietly. Her dad had the first of one of his many church group meetings in the living room today, and she knew better than to disturb them. Walking into the kitchen, she found her mom stood at the counter, chopping vegetables for dinner.

“Hey, sweetie! You’re back late. How was your first day, everything go okay?” her mom asked quietly, smiling warmly at her.

“Yeah, everything went well, Mom. I gave a friend a ride home, that’s why it took so long,” Shelby explained.

“Oh, look at you, making friends already. Told you it’d all be okay.”

“Yeah, you were right,” Shelby said, before a wave of exhaustion hit her and she yawned, realising how tired she ws. “I’m gonna go to my room, clean up before dinner.”

Walking down the hall to the staircase, she passed the door to the living room. She glanced through the glass panels briefly at the group of men, young and old, sat inside, and paused for a moment once she was out of view. The conversation inside carried, and she could hear snippets of what was being said. _Make the right choice… the bible says… life without love… a SIN._ At those last words, Shelby swallowed the lump in her throat and kept walking, ignoring the vicious, burning shame pooling in her stomach.

**Author's Note:**

> thanks for reading! I hope you liked it :) come talk to me about the wilds over on twitter, @thewilds_erana x


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